英國發現世界上最小化石
Meet the world's smallest fossil, ancient mite less than two tenths of one millimetre long
Scientists at the University of Manchester have discovered what is believed to be the smallest fossil ever found.
英國曼徹斯特大學的科學家發現了被認為是迄今為止最小的化石。
A 50-million-year-old parasite - hitching a ride on a not-much-bigger spider - was discovered during a scan of Baltic amber.
這只5000萬年前的寄生蟲是在科學家掃描一只波羅的海琥珀時發現的，它正附著在一只比它大不了多少的蜘蛛身上。
Published in the Royal Society's Biology Letters, the find was made using a computed tomography (CT) scan, which builds up a 3-D image from multiple flat scans.
這一發現發表在了英國皇家學會的《生物學通訊》上，是科學家利用計算機斷層掃描技術發現的。該技術能將多個平面斷層掃描圖像合成一張3D圖像。
Biologist Dr David Penney wrote in the paper that the arthropod fossil was extremely small - less than two tenths of a millimetre long - and “extremely rare”.
生物學家大衛-彭尼在論文中寫道：這只節肢動物的化石極其微小——還不到五分之一毫米長，并且“極為罕見”。
Dr Penney wrote that the Faculty of Life Sciences teams would not have been able to identify the mite without the CT scan.
彭尼博士寫道，如果沒有計算機斷層掃描技術，（曼徹斯特大學）生命科學院的研究小組就不會發現這只螨蟲。
He told the BBC: “CT allowed us to digitally dissect the mite off the spider in order to reveal the important features on the underside required for identification.”
他告訴BBC的記者說：“計算機斷層掃描技術使我們把這只螨蟲從蜘蛛身上分離下來，以便展示能識別其身份的身體底部的重要特征。”
“The specimen, which is extremely rare in the fossil record, is potentially the oldest record of the living family Histiostomatidae. “
“這只螨蟲標本在化石記錄中極為罕見，它有可能是現存薄口螨科動物家族中最為古老的一種。”
“Most amber fossils consist of individual insects or several insects together, but without unequivocal demonstrable evidence of direct interaction. “
“大多數的琥珀化石內含一只或多只昆蟲，但是沒有直接的證據證明它們之間存在著直接的相互作用。
Fellow biologist Dr Richard Prezoisi added that the team could now date how long species such as the mite had been using larger organisms for transportation.
他的同事理查德-普雷佐伊斯補充道，現在研究小組可以確定從多久之前象這只螨蟲一樣的物種就開始利用大型的生物做交通工具。
He said it would give “important clues as to how far back in geological time such behaviours evolved”.
他說這將為研究“這種行為是在多遠古的地質時期逐漸形成的提供重要的線索。”
英國《每日郵報》11月11日報道 – 捷優南通翻譯公司 – Devin 
